Source: federaltimes.com
Trump signed three executive orders taking aim at federal workers and the employees are irate. The orders will make it easier to dismiss employees whom are not performing up to expectations or are guilty of misconduct.
The first order is meant to address the issue of dealing with workers demonstrating a history of poor performance. It limits the amount of time an employee under investigation for misconduct could spend on probation.
The second order targets the use of official time allowed for federal employees to conduct union activities. It stipulates that an employee must spend at least 75% of their time doing government work. This is such a problem that even members of congress and the OPM have stated that the rising amount of time used for other than government business is a waste of taxpayer's money. You know it's got to be bad it even congress is talking about it.
The third order calls for the renegotiation of union contracts. This will allow for certain agreements made when the economy was thriving to be renegotiate to reflect the current conditions.
I am not in total disagreement with the workers although certain agreements covered under existing contracts are not viable in this present economy. To ignore this fact and continue kicking the can down the road will inevitable lead to more government departments going bankrupt or as done in the past, hiking fees or taxes. This is somewhat analogous to raising the minimum wage. People earning below the minimum rate believed that fighting for the increase would make them better off. What is actually happening is companies are lowering hours, laying off personnel or in some cases companies are moving to robotics to totally eliminate the workers. How did this make things better? In this case, if the workers fight to keep things as they are and it is economically unfeasible, will they be better off when their department goes bankrupt?
I see unions as necessary to maintain the balance between workers are employers but the gains won by union negotiations are pretty much written in stone. When these gains or promises are no longer financially viable, the unions are hard pressed to relinquish them. It is similar to the government, when they levy a tax or fee the government will say it is just temporary but when the time frame is reached the government is reticent to repeal the tax.
As a final point regarding the first order, have you ever complained about government workers being lazy and not performing. Think about waiting in line at your local DMV or social security office. It has been the mantra since I was a kid that if one secures a government job, you were set for life. IMO, government functions should be decreased not increase. I am not saying that the government has no purpose but today the arm of the government is too pervasive and corrupt to boot.